Speaker: Ashley MacDonald, Volunteer
What is your first name, your role at Salem Home and how long have you been part of the Salem Home Team?
Ashley MacDonald: Hi there, my name is Ashley Mcdonald, and I've been doing some casual volunteer work at Salem for the last year.
Could you share a few details about your role and what your favorite part of your day is?
Ashley MacDonald: so there's lots of different areas that you can go and volunteer. Um some of the ones that I've done is I've gone in for Wednesday night baking and those are always super fun. Um I've done around christmas time last year. We got some of the residents into the van and we drove them around, we got to see christmas lights. Um Mostly my favorite thing to do though is bingo on Saturdays. Um I try to make a point of going in on those days. Those are definitely some of my favorites. It is such an exciting way to connect with the residents and they all look forward to it. It's something fun that they get to do every saturday and it's, it's nice to be able to help um, the people who are running it and working there too, they get an extra set of hands so you can go and grab, you know, another resident, help them get to the, get to their seat and um there's all these little things that they need as well and whether that's even just, you know, sitting with one of them and helping them if you know, there, it's a little bit hard for them to see the cards or maybe they just kind of want to chat with you while they're while they're winning bingo. So that is, that is definitely one of my favorite things is, is going in and spending time with them on bingo Saturdays
Could you share why you choose to be part of the Salem Home Team?
Ashley MacDonald: So I'm actually not from here. I'm from Ontario originally and a couple of years I moved here and I just felt like I needed to get involved with the community somehow and I didn't know how that was going to be or what that looked like, but I started looking at ways to volunteer. Um, and I was reading mission statements and looking all over morden and Winkler and when I came across Salem's, it just, uh, it kind of tugged at my heart a little bit. So, um, it was, it was an easy process. Um, Alana was awesome to, to chat with and deal with and she got me on board right away. And uh, it's been, yeah, it's been a really great way for me to be a part of the community, um, a way for me to give back. And I also, you know, I get a lot out of it. Um, just from, from a lot of the residents because they're all really special people. Um, so if you are thinking about volunteering, just do it because it's been, it's been so great in my life and the more volunteers for the residents, the better they have so many, so many stories they want to share and they love connecting with people. So yeah,
Do you have any advice for someone who is thinking about joining the Salem Home Team?
Ashley MacDonald: My advice would be simple. It would be just sign up and try it. It it's easy to fall in love with a lot of these residents. Um, it's such a way to give back to the community, and it's just such a wonderful way to connect with people. And honestly, selfishly, I get so much more out of it than than I could ever give going there. So if you are considering volunteering or becoming a part of the Salem team, I just I highly recommend it.
